Eagles-Saints Preview

The league's hottest quarterback and its most hyped rookie take center stage at the Superdome on Sunday as the Philadelphia Eagles face the New Orleans Saints in a meeting few expected would involve two of the NFC's top teams.

The spotlight will be squarely on McNabb and Bush this week after neither really was the focus going into their games last Sunday.
All of the hoopla surrounding Terrell Owens' return to Philadelphia clearly did not bother McNabb, who threw for 354 yards and two touchdowns - he also ran for a score - in a 38-24 victory over Dallas.

"This is a total team game," McNabb said. "It's not about two guys. It's about a team."

The team the Eagles (4-1) visit this week is one of the biggest surprises in football. Not that Philadelphia's strong start was widely expected, with Owens gone and McNabb coming off an injury-plagued 2005 as the club went 6-10, but it's hard to imagine anyone predicting the Saints (4-1) would have already passed last year's victory total (three).

Bush helped make that happen last Sunday with a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown with 4:17 to play to give the Saints a 24-21 victory over Tampa Bay.

It was the first NFL touchdown for this year's second overall draft pick.

"The monkey's off my back now," the Heisman Trophy winner said.

Though Bush is off to a relatively slow start and being kept out of the end zone was a notable story out of New Orleans, the bigger one has been the team's stunning start and its return to the Superdome just one year after Hurricane Katrina.

An emotionally charged crowd has lifted the Saints to wins in both of their home games, including a 23-3 victory over Atlanta in Week 3.

Philadelphia has rolled to 14-point victories in its two road games, but those came against Houston and San Francisco - teams with a combined 3-6 record.

"The Saints are a real good football team," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "You're playing down in New Orleans. It will be an emotional crowd, a loud crowd down there. It's two 4-1 teams going against each other and they are very well deserving of the record that they have. They are playing great football right now."

So is McNabb.

He's the NFC's highest-rated passer and tops the NFL with 11 touchdown passes while his 1,602 yards - his lowest single-game total this season is 288 - are nearly 300 more than any other quarterback in the league.

The departure of Owens is one reason Philadelphia has had a different leading receiver every week, but another could be the recent absence of the player acquired to fill his role.

Donte' Stallworth came over in a trade with the Saints shortly before the season started and didn't take long to get on the same page with McNabb - they hooked up six times for 141 yards in the opener. Stallworth, though, has missed two of the last three games with a hamstring problem and it appears unlikely he'll be able to play in his return to New Orleans.

Bush has been one of quarterback Drew Brees' favorite targets with a team-high 34 receptions for 250 yards, but he's been mostly ineffective running the ball with 170 yards on 54 carries.

Despite splitting carries with Bush, Deuce McAllister has gotten off to an impressive start in his return from reconstructive knee surgery. His four rushing touchdowns ties him for the league lead and he is among the NFL leaders with 380 rushing yards and 4.8 per carry.

"The defenses out there, they respect my talents enough," McAllister said. "But obviously Reggie has talent as well, so they're definitely going to pay attention to him."

Philadelphia's version of Bush is Brian Westbrook, whose 126.5 yards from scrimmage per game ranks third in the NFL.

Westbrook, hampered all season by swelling in his knee, has rushed only 19 times over his past two games but could get more carries against a Saints defense which is allowing 123.8 rushing yards per game - third-worst in the NFC. New Orleans is third in the conference against the pass, giving up 182.2 yards per contest.

The Saints will want to get their running game going to hopefully take pressure off Brees, who faces an Eagles defense which leads the NFL with 23 sacks. They sacked Drew Bledsoe seven times last week.

"We have a great group of guys, linebackers, the D-line, the secondary. I think we have a great defense," said defensive end Trent Cole, who is tied for the league lead with six sacks despite not becoming a starter until Week 3 after Jevon Kearse's season-ending knee injury.

The Saints have not beaten the Eagles since 1991, losing five straight meetings.

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